i'm tamron hall, the "news nation" is following breaking news this hour. exactly one week after 20 children and six adults were massacred by a gunman in their school the nra demands armed guards be deployed over tory school in this country by january saying the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. after promising meaningful contributions to ensure mass shootings don't happen again the organization's ceo blamed the media, video games, mental health policy, the lack of funding from the federal government. >> the only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection. the only thing that stops a bad

guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. i call on congress today to act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every single school in this nation. >> through the course of his half hour statement where he took no questions from the media, he was interrupted twice by protesters he never acknowledged. >> nra stop killing our children. it's the nra and the assault weapons that's killing our children. not armed teachers. we got to end the violence. we got to stop the killing. >> let me bring in our "news nation" political panel. michael, former pence governor ed rendell, robert.

we also have on the phone john rosenthal. john has been with us all week. you and your organization have put up billboards urging action, urging people to call on their members of congress. john, what is your reaction to what we saw from nra today? >> this is consistent behavior and consistent response and absolute nonsense. it's also old news. there were two armed guards at columbine high school. the fbi was even out gunned at waco by david koresh with a tennessee made assault rifle that he blew up a tank with and killed police officers. all these weapons are readily available from private gun dealers without a background check in 33 states and thousands of gun shows. it's absolute insanity to arm and put in armed guards at every

police station, at every school. then you have to do every mall. look law enforcement officers carry pistols with 13 rounds and congress has given criminals ability to buy assault weapons in 100 round clips without detection at gun shows and 33 states. the nra's response to make, you know, guns more accessible should make it very easy for congress to once and for all, for the first time since 1994, find their back bone, stand up to the dangerous nra policies, and enact assault weapon ban and background check for all gun sales. >> michael let me bring you in. he referenced the gunman at sandy hook by name twice. here's one of those references. >> what if, what if when adam lanza started shooting his way into sandy hook elementary

school last friday he had been confronted by qualified armed security? we could at least admit it's possible that 26 little kids, the 26 innocent lives might have been spared that day? >> michael, you heard john state the fact that there was a guard at columbine. >> sure. >> this sunds like an arms race. at what point do you arm the guard at the school with a 20 magazine clip? how do you know what the bad guy will be armed with when he does walk into that school. it becomes an arms race. >> when he said that and raised that possibility and asked will you at least concede this could have between outcome i said to myself will you concede that an alternative outcome is that someone else could have been killed in the crossfire because of perhaps a well intentioned law enforcement officer.

tamron, why by this logic stop with one armed guard or one police person at every school. maybe i have an 18-year-old who has led a noble life thus far and is proficient with firearms. i presume by this logic the nra would say you can arm him too. we have 5% of the world's population and 50% of its weaponry. there's a multitude of problems at work here but one of them is too many guns and in the wrong hands. designee talked about the culture of violence and the way he described what could have played out at sandy hook i thought i was listening to a script from a movie that you have someone there and they get into a shootout and it works out well because the action hero saves the day. that's not as you pointed out real life. >> that sounds like it comes from a movie. >> sounds like a script. >> there's a multitude of problems here. we don't have a monopoly on divorce and break down of the family. the japanese are as proficient with violent video games as our

children. but where we stand out is the number of the number weapons. >> to your point video games, the culture, mental health issues and identifying what is truly a mental health issue that could turn into violence, certainly all things that we should explore but they are not exclusive to the united states. the one dynamic that is exclusive to the united states is that someone can own a gun that can mow down people in seconds. >> thought this was going be something different when they used the word contributions. i thought they would embrace universal background checks or get ahead of a ban on assault weapons. >> governor rendell let me break you in. michael bloomberg said instead of offering solutions they offered a paranoid vision of more dangerous and violent america where everyone is armed and no place is safe. barbara boxer issued a statement saying the nra is now calling for stronger security at our

schools. they should endorse my legislation which would fund security up grades. she goes on the say they blamed everyone in sight except their own organization. i got several statements here but none at least that we have found from republican leadership here. does that surprise you? >> no, not at all. the republican leadership can't get away from the nra and it's another step of become an extinct party. they will become like the whigs. the nra embarrassed itself. as michael said they had an opportunity today to change the national image of the nra. if they said, look, no american gun owner, no hunter needs a high capacity magazine with more than ten bullets and a clip, we're for that ban. our members, frank luntz, fox news frank luntz poll 47% of our members said no one should get a gun without a background check.

we're endorsing a federal ban on gun shows selling guns without background checks. federal ban on internet sales. they could have taken a real step towards enhancing their credibility. they embarrassed himself. learning apierr emp pm-- lapier resign. the republicans have a choice. break with the nra or have every suburban american that looks like this and says this guy is nuts. if you look at this statement you have to think this guy is whacked. that's a danger for the republicans to align themselves with. >> i know you don't mean this in a flip callous way but your reaction is similar to other people who are not anti-gun, they are anti-assault weapons that have magazines that are capable of shooting dozens of people in seconds. that's what people are missing.

you don't have to be anti-gun to be anti-assault weapon or military style weapon. >> of course not. as governor of pence i pushed and expanded legislation for fathers and sons to be able to use guns and for fathers to educate their sons in the woods at an early age and learn how to use firearms responsibly. we're a great hunting state. but answer a question. you wouldn't take questions so i'll ask you one. can you give me one good reason why any american needs an assault weapon. give me one good reason why any law-abiding american needs a high capacity magazine. >> professor, let me bring you in. i would like to talk about the politics of all of this. i said none of the republican leadership issued a statement but i guess what some of my colleagues like to call the de facto leader of the party rush limbaugh did call about this news conference. let me play what he did say. >> no matter what he said wayne

lapierre sounded like an adult looking for real solutions but that's not what this country is interested in right now. sorry. the adults are not running the show. >> so, the politics of this, we know the nra has hundreds of millions of dollars in their budget. they spent over 17 million i believe in the last election cycle. what are the politics of the nra and what we're seeing when you factor in newtown which the associated press actually labelled the number one story the year for the first time beating out a general election and the story that captivated us for the sadness and the tragedy of it all? >> well, i think the nra and. wayne lapierre was speaking to the constituency of the nra. he was careful not to say anything that would offend his own membership. secondly when he was speaking i was hoping that he would speak on behalf of the nra in a calm,

constructive and sort of common ground way. but he missed his shot in this talk. instead of emphasizing some kind of positive proposal, he did towards the end of his talk mention this model school shield program which at least is an idea that can be discussed but instead of going right to that and offering it in constructive way he spends the first 15 minutes of his talk bashing the media, talking about the familiar whipping boys of violence in movies and in video games, et cetera and as you pointed out there's no particular correlation between those things and actual violence in society. >> professor, back to your point i want to flaws. you're pointing out research and michael brought thunder as well. our culture is not exclusive to video games and certainly not to mental illness and to repeatedly bring this up as the reason for it all he never once brought up assault ban or the conversation or the possibility that perhaps

not all weapons are meant to be in the hands of every individual. and certainly talking about second amendment rights but we've had assault weapons bans before at least bring up the word. it was silent. >> it's true. but i took that to be an indication of how scrupulous he was in trying not to offend his 4 million member base. the thing is there was one otherict he mentioned only very briefly in his talk that could have been a basis for a little bit of common ground where lapierre mentioned there's no national unified database that carries information about people with mental problems with respect to their access to guns and one of the things we know is that the majority of mass shooters in the last 30 years have been people who have clear mental problems, people who should not be allowed access to guns yet got guns in fact 80% of mass shooters in the last 30 years obtained their guns legally and we have a lot of people in this category engaging in these activities who if

authorities had any information whatsoever that they had significant mental problems known to family and friends that there would be a basis for intervening saying these people ought not to have ready access to guns. that's one area that might common ground moment and he jumped over it and a missed punt by wayne lapierre. >> 4 million members of the nra, 330 million people in this country and you were startled by the fact that i think you said it was just 4 million. you thought there was an arsenal of people supporting this organization. >> i think a key constituency that will determine where we go from here are gun owners like myself who do not belong to the nra. so let's not fall into that trap of believing when wayne lapierre speaks he speaks for me or millions of americans who frankly want nothing to do with the organization. >> let's go back to the politics of this. michael i want to you respond

this and governor rendell let me give you the first shot. the congressman from kansas was on talking about the fiscal cliff and mica and joe asked him about any notion, any possibility that he would support a ban on assault weapons. let me play what i had to say to joe. >> what has bothered me the most as a representative is how this has been politicized so quickly. >> do you dare come on my show and say i am using the slaughter of 20 little 6 and 7-year-old children -- >> how many children do you have? joe, how many children do you have? >> i have four children. answer my question. >> so do i. i refuse to let you say because you have children or anybody else that we need to actually politicize this. >> so, governor rendell how do you reply to those who say this is politicizing the deaths of these children when there's people who say let's discuss the laws that could possibly keep this from happening. we have laws to keep us in seat

belts. in the '70s we didn't have that when you were a kid. we have laws to save lives in many cases. why not this? >> there's no excuse. talk about politicizing it. one of the mothers said the night of the president's speech at the memorial service that the only justification, the only solace they can get out of this is if the deaths of these 20 kids leads to something protecting other kids. let me disagree with one thing the professor said and one that michael said. the 4 million nra members are not automonots. three quarters are in favor of background checks. >> governor rendell why are not more speaking out. you had senator mansion saying he was proud of nra for coming to the table here. today again, unless i missed his statement we've not heard from him saying listen this is not what i expected from the nra or

this is what i wanted to hear from them. >> because the nra has created the mythology that they are tough. i was the governor of the second highest nra membership state in the union. i was elected three times in three different elections by 10, 12 and 21 percentage points naern via dangerously posed me in every election. so what's up with that? >> to your point and michael bloomberg makes that same point what's up with their power or presumed power. john, let you have the last word. if this is about getting the troops, whatever your stance is in this debate at this point, are you and your organization completely ready to go up against the nra and if governor rendell and others are right expose the lack of power they really have here? >> yes. i mean i would hope so. but it's all of our responsibility. every single day you go over 30 years, every day, and every day

congress delays 83 more americans die including eight children from guns. a classroom is emptied every three dies, 340 kids a month end 3,000 die every year. what's missing in this conversation is the nra has dictated a national gun policy for three decades and congress has gone along with it. the last votes that congress took was whether or not people on suspected terrorist watch lists should be able to buy guns. they can't fly in airplanes should they be able to buy guns. democrats and republicans said yes they should be able to buy guns and the vote before that was to give absolute immunity to the gun industry after 52 people, kids, college kids were shot and 32 were killed at virginia tech. so, congress is to blame here. we're to blame for allowing congress to being bought by the nra and it's time for real change and an assault weapon ban and high capacity magazine clips and a simple back ground checks for all gun sales will save the

majority of gun deaths in this country without banning anything except for these military style weapons. >> john thank you. professor thank you. governor rendell and michael of course always a pleasure to have you in studio. i want to point out quickly the american federation much teachers responded to the nra and are saying after remaining silent for an entire week nra's first comments to were call for more guns. they call this irresponsible and dangerous. thank you again, gentlemen. a programming note the nra ceo wayne lapierre will give an exclusive interview to david gregory on "meet the press." we'll take questions on sunday from david. developing news out of the white house. just moments ago president obama nominated senator john kerry to be the next secretary of state. if confirmed mr. kerry will take over as america's top diplomat from outgoing secretary of state hillary clinton who intends to step down in january. u.n. ambassador susan rice was believed to be the president's

first choice but she with drew her name from consideration after pressure with what in benghazi. in making the announcement the president praised senator kerry's years of military and public service. >> having served with valor in vietnam, he understands that we have a responsibility to use american power wisely. especially our military power. and he knows from personal experience that when we send our troops into harm's way we must give them the same strategy, clear mission and the resources that they need to get the job done. >> senator kerry is the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. he's expected to be easily confirmed. up next it's being called the lowest moment of john boehner's speakership. >> while we may have not been able to get the votes last night to avert 98.9% tax increase, i don't think -- they weren't taking it out on me.

>> who were they taking it out on? what is the gop's next move. politico says the drama changes the dynamics in the fiscal cliff negotiations. congressman sandy levin will join me. and michael will be hosting "hardball." he'll talk about what we heard from nra. senator kerry's next move in life and the fiscal cliff. meanwhile join our conversation, can you tweet us at tamron hall and apartment "news nation" and if you spell michael's name you can reach him on twitter as well. wow, the samsung galaxy s3.

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welcome back. developing now new reaction and fingerprinting from democrats and republicans into where the fiscal cliff negotiations might go after house speaker john boehner's epic fail to mass plan

b. earlier the speaker tried to explain why a revolt in his own party stopped from getting the votes need. >> there was a perception created that that vote last night was going to increase taxes. we had a number of our members who just really didn't want to be perceived as having raised taxes. that was the real issue. >> now our first team calls it an unmitigated disaster. an embarrassing blunder and loss of leadership and leverage just hours after saying the measure would pass house majority lead eric cantor broke the stunning news. >> no vote today? >> no. >> will there be one tomorrow? >> no. >> are you ditching plan b? will there be a vote today? >> no. >> what happens next? >> a major factor which may

affect whether a deal will be made the markets the dow opened down and remained in negative territory all day as investors react to the uncertainty of the fiscal cliff negotiations. let me bring in michigan congressman levin. nice to see you. so where do we go from here? >> i think speaker boehner has to decide whether he's a leader of a dysfunctional caucus or he's going to be a speaker of the whole house, work with democrats, go back and negotiate with the president. when the speaker says there's a perception that taxes were being raised, know the reality is under his proposal some taxes were going to be raised. and he has within his caucus a group that has really radicalized the republican party and his caucus who will not vote for any increase in taxes no matter what, even though we need that increase along with

spending cuts. that's their problem. they have a radical group within their ranks. as steve latourret said it's a group that would rather be martyrs to the extremists than govern. >> you refer to congressman's remarks. i would like to play it because some of our audience members have not seen it. he's a republican and here's how he assessed what happened. let's play it. >> was there any pleas by any members to encourage them to go along with this vote? >> no. we've been doing that for two years with these people. and all they -- they become martyrs. you know, they become martyrs in the eyes of these extreme groups. >> so, congressman levin, this is what happened with the grand bargain, this huge agreement that had been reached apparently with speaker boehner and the president last year and then boehner walked away again going back to the timeline here

members of congress at home, are heading home. what happens next? >> what has to happen is as i said the speaker has to act like the speaker. not simply a leader of a party that is split, that has become radicalized. that has a group in that will not agree to anything that has taxes, it has to have only spending cuts. we got to have a balanced approach. and essentially he has a group that wants a totally unbalanced approach. >> but during his news conference today he had an opportunity to give a clearer vision of his next move today in this news conference. instead he kind of explained what went wrong with his own caucus, very vaguely i should point out. but, again, not giving a clear, i guess, plan if it's b, c or whatever on how he plans to negotiate with democrats and the president. >> i think he has to be like all leaders must be and that is to face the music.

the music is he has great disharmony in his ranks. he has some who do not want to move ahead. he has to now again sit down with the president who has been more than forthcoming and decide it has to be done on a bipartisan basis. that's the only way that we can proceed, and so i was disappointed. the speaker did not step up to the plate this morning. he has to do that or we're going to go over the cliff. he's going to lead us over the cliff instead of helping lead us towards a solution and going over the cliff would be a bad move for the economy, we have 2 million unemployed people in this country whose benefits would be immediately cut off. we have physician reimbursements that would be cut 25%, hurting seniors. we have an amt, if it isn't patched we're going to have millions of people who aren't going get their refunds. >> senator mitch mcconnell just

gave a statement. he said it's the president's job to find a solution to pass congress. he's the only one that can do it. this isn't boehner's problem to solve. he's bent over backwards. >> that's not -- look. that's a passing of the buck. that isn't going to work. people have to sit down, but not with their hands tied. and speaker boehner, the problem with his caucus is they say talk but we're going to tie your hands. and that is not going to result in a decent result. there's been this radicalization of the republican party. we saw it in the primaries. it culminated yesterday, the speaker tried to apiece them saying a tax cut isn't a tax cut. he brought up plans that would hurt children and seniors. he has to essentially cut his

ties from them in terms of negotiations and negotiate with the president of the united states who is more than forthcoming, create a bipartisan solution, bring it up on a bipartisan basis in the house and the senate. >> okay. congressman thank you so much for your time. i really appreciate it. let me bring its the "news nation" political panel. you heard the congressman there saying this is to be bipartisan. this is, though, what, i guess, the negotiators whoever they are at this point for the republicans are facing. let me play again congressman tim huelskamp on the fiscal cliff. he was on talking about fiscal cliff and gun control which was meant of a single reaction of no. let's play it. >> should anybody's taxes be raised at this point. please answer sir, yes or no. >> no. >> then how do you negotiate with somebody who comes from

your point of view. it's purely entitlements. >> mr. buffet is not going to pay a dime in taxes. >> i'm not talking about mr. buffet. >> how do we solve this fiscal crisis without taking revenue. >> taxes doesn't solve the crisis. that's the misleading statement. >> how do the democrats and the president negotiate with that part of the republican party that seems to have a great amount of influence over spoker boehner so much so they humiliated him last night. >> they don't. they can't negotiate. they are so far apart. their plans don't look alike. not even shared bullet points. what they have to do and this is a long shot especially given the holidays coming up, you have to bring members back from spending christmas and hanukkah with their families what they have to do is get a plan that would bring some of what's left of the moderate members and the republican caucus back over and vote with the democrats and that's such a long shot at this point. also you need to count on every

single democratic vote in the house caucus as well and that's going difficult too. it just seems impossible when you look at the math. >> "the washington post" asked the question who do you trouft protect the middle class. president obama 58%, republicans 32%. one thing that's lost in this plan b that was proposed by speaker boehner would have cut food stamp, meals on wheels. that's not why congressman huelskamp and others were opposed to plan b. they were opposed that nothing should to be done to include taxes. >> and unemployment benefits. they don't care about the poor and middle class. they care about protecting billionaires and billionaires who don't need it. these people should resign. they obviously have no interest in governing. they only have an interest -- >> they won't resign. >> we have no interest in doing stopping what president obama is doing. i don't know how you get anything done.

this is an inconceivable dilemma. i can't think of what the words are for a solution. these are people against veterans benefits, veterans jobs bill, u.n. disability treaty, people against chuck haggle being secretary of defense and susan rice against secretary of state. they are against anything. anything possible that the president wants to put forward they will pose. how do you solve problems when you have one party that's just the party move to. i don't have a solution. >> some of these people want to become martyrs. that's frightening language when you think about what they are willing to do in the name of, as he put it to be line with some of these extreme groups and that's what republicans are saying with some in their own party. >> the tea party and right-wing has taken control of the republican party. i have to believe there must be a few just a handful of good decent republicans who are willing to buck the grover norquist and nras and the

radical right-wing tea party group of the world and stand up and to what's right. if you don't have courage to do what's right why are your in congress? >> what's the motivation. we know the tea party didn't have great success in statewide races certainly not in the general election of the president. they solely wanted to remove president obama from the white house. but they do have success when you look at congressional real estates. what is the motivation to get, if not a change obviously with the fiscal cliff because these people are there they are not going to resign in the future? >> yes. so their motivation is actually i disagree with representative latourette. they are not martyrs. they want to stay in congress and get re-elected. they are worried about republican primaries. we'll look at tim huelskamp he represents one of the most conservative house districts in the country. this is western rural kansas. so he does not want to be

primaried. but, again, i think this is going to take -- it's still very difficult math. i bet if congress comes back in january, democrats are 18 seats short of the majority. so they would need 18 republicans to come over and vote and that's if everyone in the house democratic caucus was on board. so you need about 25 republicans giving some wiggle room to come on board and vote for something. that's hard math. >> sh ira thank you. keith as well. and we'll look at some options, the three remaining options that are available. hundreds more flights are cancelled today after a massive and deadly winter storm. it's still moving across the country. look at all these stranded folks. we'll get an up where date. today's "news nation" gut check. nra calls for armed police officers at every school after promising to offer meaningful solutions to prevent another

school shooting. is that the answer? we're going to tell you how you can weigh in and let us know your thoughts. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.

welcome back. the massive winter storm that pounded the midwest is now moving across the northeast. one of the busiest travel days the year we're facing, combination of rain and strong winds is causing flight delays and cancelations. the major northeast hubs over 600 cancelations so far today. yesterday more than 1,000 flights were cancelled across the country. and dangerous snow and ice caused white out conditions along some of the midwest major highways claiming the lives of several people. we'll have more of course on this storm throughout the weekend. we'll be right back.

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house and senate to couple with a plan. speaking on the floor a short time ago senate leaders count be further apart. >> is speaker is all powerful in the house. to blame us for that travesty that took place over there, mr. president, that is pretty incredible. >> it's the president's job, it's his job to find a solution that can pass the congress. he's the only one who can do it. this isn't john boehner's problem to solve. he's done his part. he's bent over backwards. >> joining me now new jersey congressman a member of the house budget committee and you're back here in new jersey. >> yes. how are you doing? >> i'm doing okay. i got to ask you, has speaker boehner quote bent over backwards to reach a deal, in your opinion? >> no, i don't think he has. i can't put the entire blame on him for what happened last night. remember he was on your show and

many other shows yesterday saying the major problem is that the president can't control the votes in his own party. he said that. i didn't say that. well what happened last night was we find out that after mr. boehner and mr. cantor said very specifically that they had the votes they were far off the count. now we can't be playing russian roulette with this stuff. we're talking about people being hurt on january 1st, taxes going up for everybody and what their plan as they call it, plan b was to stop 0.3 people of getting a tax cut. in other words, they are the only ones that would have their taxes increased. i mean are they kidding? we can't get sufficient revenue from that. you know from the congressman from connecticut, mr. huelskamp who was apparently speaking for the far right as he spoke during

the day today, he's saying this is definitely a spending problem. well if you say it's only a spending problem, or if you say it's only a revenue problem, you are not contributing to the solution. it's both a spending and a revenue problem. and the fact of the matter is the major part as we move towards 2020, the major portion of the debt of this country is going to be 40 to 45% based upon the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003. that does not make any sense. we'll have no growth if we go over the cliff january 1st, people not only in the middle class but all people are going see the differences and what their plan b yesterday was a disaster because it took from kids, it took from seniors, it took from the very programs that we need day in and day out and said this is why we'll give the upper income between 450, 400,000 as the president recommended to a million dollars

they will get this tax cut on the backs of those people. and i'm not going to vote for that. i'll tell you how i stand. i'm not going to vote for that. >> right now we have wall street reacting. still in negative territory. >> expectations. >> speaker boehner would appreciate you giving him cover by saying it's not his fault but plan b betlongd him. >> he gave these people lee way, elbow room since they came into do 7k 10. they felt they could do whatever the heck they want. now they are controlling things. you don't have to have to have the majority of the majority. you have a minority of the majority that are controlling the republican party. it's not only on issues. it can be on every issue. not just on finances. it's on gun control. we'll go either or again. this is not revenue or cutting

our costs. this is a combination. the president has tried to balance his approach. that's why the american people are with him. they are not with this diatribe coming out of the republican party. don't we want to solve this for all americans or do i want to solve it for a few? >> congressman, thank you so much for joining us from your home state and not from washington, d.c., which -- oh, boy. >> we're ready to go back next week right after christmas. we'll do what has to be done. this is a problem for all of us. when boehner's office said this is reid's and obama's problem he's really searching for a place to rest his head. that's all he's doing. >> we'll see what happens next. happy holidays. hope i want gets happier for us. up next, with republicans refusing to compromise, how can anything get done in the fiscal cliff negotiation? we've had a series of guests who said the same thing today.

nothing can get done with members of the republican caucus holding, i guess, congress hostage if that's the right word. we'll be joined by mark murray who said there's three remaining options left. we'll look at those three options and break them down for you. mom? who's mom? i'm the giants mascot. the giants don't have a mascot! ohhh! eat up! new jammin jerk chicken soup has tasty pieces of chicken with rice and beans. hmmm. for giant hunger! thanks mom! see ya! whoaa...oops! mom? i'm ok. grandma? hi sweetie! she operates the head. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

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so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news. the breakdown in the fiscal cliff negotiations is cast out not only on john boehner's ability to pull members together of his own party but whether anything can be accomplished that includes a split government with republican members who refuse to budge on anything. mark murray joins us now. we've had our share of guests talking about obstruction by republicans specifically the more conservative members of the party but what are the real options available now with these negotiations? >> tamron there are three. first is a quick fix where the white house works with senate both democrats and republicans to pass a quick fix that's maybe

on the raising tax rates above $250,000. and then for the house to pass that after it's been passed in the senate. the other type of option would be actually return to the grand bargaining with president obama more leverage actually tries to have one more stab at getting a really big deal and then tamron the third option is going over the cliff. that would have with some quick fixes at the beginning of the new year, democrats would have a whole lot more leverage afterwards. >> it's so interesting, mark, early on there were people who said given the results of the election, there was no way we would go over the cliff, we've seen this song before. after the tragedy in newtown the president said we can't take this, stress we've seen let's get to table let's negotiate. there's been high points where the speaker has met face to face with the president and there were low points where they were at a holiday party without exchanging a glance. at this point are we at the lowest regarding the negotiations here given members of congress are already gone?

>> potentially. although when you construct a deal there's sometimes darkest before the dawn. there's the possibility that they actually could get something done. they were trying to get 217 house republican votes to get a deal through the house conceivably all you need is 120 republicans, additional 120, 140 democrats. it is doable to get it. you have about 100, 120 republicans willing to get some type of deal done. just being able to get something passed without having john boehner's base resolt and we'll see what their reaction is after all this. >> thank you very much. i never heard them hit the music on someone but they did. up next "news nation" gut check. we'll be right back. i'm only in my 60's...

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all right. time now for the "news nation" gut check. nra wants to put police in every school. do you agree or disagree. i'll be taking off a few days. happy holidays to everyone who has been hanging with us all

year. happy new year. that want does it for this edition of "news nation." say bye guys. they are not on vacation. "the cycle" is up next. so delightful ♪ nothing melts away the cold like a hot, delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let it snow military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help.

can i still ship a gift in time for christmas?